U.S. SEC suspends some in-house court cases over hiring of judges

WASHINGTON, May 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has suspended some of its pending in-house court cases, after a Denver-based federal appeals court found the agency had violated the Constitution in how it hired its administrative law judges.

In an order dated May 22, the SEC said it would suspend any cases in which a defendant will have an option to appeal a case before the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers the states of Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah and Wyoming.

The SEC's order comes after that same appeals court earlier this month declined reconsider the ruling which found the SEC's hiring of its judges violated the Constitution's appointments clause. (Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)